Raymond William Butt (25 June 1935 – 12 July 2013) was a British

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon ...

and director. He worked on several

sitcoms A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...

for

BBC television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

and became best known for '' Only Fools and Horses''.

Early life

Butt grew up in London as an only child with his mother and father. He left school at 16 and served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

for his national service.

Career

He produced ''Only Fools and Horses'' until

Series 5 Series 5 may refer to: * Aston Martin V8 Series 5, an automobile model * BMW 5 Series, a line of automobiles * GeForce 5 Series, a line of video cards * Psion Series 5 The Psion Series 5 was a personal digital assistant (PDA) from Psion. It ...

, directing most episodes himself, when he moved onto new projects. He also worked on '' Last of the Summer Wine'' and '' Are You Being Served?''. Butt directed the 1976 two-part episode from ''Last of the Summer Wine's'' third series consisting of the episodes, "The Great Boarding House Bathroom Caper" and "Cheering up Gordon." Butt would also serve as primary producer for ''Are You Being Served?'' between 1975 and 1977. He frequently collaborated with writer John Sullivan, directing for four different series written by Sullivan. Butt retired in 1989. He received two BAFTAs, one for '' Only Fools and Horses'' and one for '' Just Good Friends''.

Death

Butt died on 12 July 2013 and was survived by his partner, Jo Blyth, and a daughter from an earlier marriage.

Filmography

*'' The Liver Birds'' (1969–1979) *'' Are You Being Served?'' (1975–1977) *'' Last of the Summer Wine'' (1976) *'' Citizen Smith'' (1977–1979) *'' Only Fools and Horses'' (1981–1987) *'' Just Good Friends'' (1983–1984) *'' Dear John'' (1986-1987) *'' Young, Gifted and Broke'' (1989) * '' Sob Sisters'' (1989)

References

External links

* 1935 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel BAFTA winners (people) BBC television producers British television directors {{UK-tv-bio-stub